GARDEN HOLDS NATIVE TREASURES.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer Evelyn Healy arrives at work in jeans and hiking boots and begins sorting through her work: Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, locoweed locoweed or crazyweed [Span. loco=crazy], any of several American species of the genera Astragalus and Oxytropus, north-temperate leguminous plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), that, when eaten by horses, , hummingbird sage Hummingbird sage is a common name for two different species of sage:
adj. & n. Variant of woolly. Adj. 1. wooly - having a fluffy character or appearance flocculent, woolly soft - yielding readily to pressure or weight 2. blue curls, all native to the Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a low transverse range in southern California in the United States. Geography They run for approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. . At 9 a.m., the rabbits are still finishing their breakfast of blue blossoms, though the hummingbirds haven't arrived for their favorite sage flowers. It is Healy's job to make sure the garden thrives, and the arrival of spring has made it quite a bit easier, she said. An attractive garden, Healy said, persuades visitors who come to Soka University's Botanical Research Center and Nursery to consider adding the varieties to their gardens at home. Not only are the plants pretty additions, they are low-water users accustomed to surviving Southern California temperatures and they attract wildlife, she said. ``They're just local to this area. They're ones you might go over the hill and find them growing,'' said Healy, the garden botanist. ``We let people see how nice native plants really are.'' The nursery is open to the public every weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And with the arrival of spring, Healy has been giving tours about once a month. The next one is scheduled for May 6 from 10 to 11 a.m. The sessions give plant lovers a chance to compare notes and get tips on how to improve their garden, Healy said. ``A lot of people are interested in using the plants, and they have very specific questions,'' Healy said. ``We learn a lot from each other, and that's really nice. If you know more about your plants, you enjoy them more.'' The research nursery also has a very large collection of seeds, with over 200 species preserved. Healy, who has served as the nursery botanist for less than a year, eventually plans to test the life span of the seed species - information that could prove useful in helping fire-ravaged areas recuperate re·cu·per·ate v. To return to health or strength; recover. . ``We want to catalog the seeds so we have a data bank of sorts to identify seeds,'' Healy said. ``When it comes to seeds pertaining to California, there's nothing available.'' Some seeds can last hundreds of years, making it easier to preserve the species, Healy said. Seeds for weed-type plants, not surprisingly, tend to have a long life span, she said. Soka University Soka University (創価大学, Sōka Daigaku) is a private university located in Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. The school was founded in 1969 and opened to undergraduate students in 1971 and opened a graduate school in 1975. has sat at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains just off Mulholland Highway  This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.Please [improve the article] or discuss this issue on the talk page. for about 11 years, providing English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. classes to Japanese students. The university established the nursery more than two years ago as a way of bringing Japanese culture to the campus, said Earlyn Mosher A mosher is a person who is crossed between goth/punk/skater they have long hair and listen to music like slipknot and metal music. Some people call them headbangers. At certain music shows they have something called a mosh pit, basically its a fight pit with loads of people bashing each other. , assistant director for the Botanical Research Center and Nursery. ``We have four or five wildlife preserves in Japan. One of our beliefs is that you are one with your environment,'' Mosher said. ``So that's one reason we created this. The other reason is that we want to restore the area to a natural habitat.'' Non-native plants have been introduced to the 580-acre campus over the past 70 years, something university representatives want to change. The campus has more than a third of the nearly 650 species native to the Santa Monica Mountains. Malibu baccharis, in particular, has been seen thriving in the area, a new species that hasn't even been listed in plant catalogs, Healy said. THE FACTS Soka University is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. The John and Juliana Gensley Native Plant Demonstration Garden is open every weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A tour of the garden will be given May 6 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, Box Photo: (1--Color only in Conejo edition) Evelyn Healy is keeper of the native plants. (2--Ran in Conejo and SAC editions only--Color) Malibu baccharis is a new species at Soka University's botanical garden in Calabasas. (3--Ran in Simi edition only) A stroll through the garden opens up view of various native plants. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News Box: (Color only in Conejo edition) THE FACTS (See text) |
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